Some computer networking environments can include network routers and/or network switches which are capable of forwarding data and information between different computers and even between different networks. However, there can be disadvantages associated with network routers and/or network switches within networking environments. For example, within some network switches and/or network routers there is a limited amount of memory space. As a result, different software applications operating on a network switch or router can be in competition for the scarce memory space, which can degrade the overall performance of that network switch or router. Therefore, it is desirable to have these different software applications utilize the limited memory space as efficiently as possible in order to improve the overall performance of that network switch or router.
One conventional solution for trying to use memory space more efficiently involves storing data using data structures having bit size specifications. However, one of the disadvantages associated with this conventional solution is that it can become less efficient when elements in a data structure span across byte boundaries.
The present invention may address one or more of the above issues.